Price To Pay
by kellyh000
Summary: Set during extra game. Pairing:Akashi x Riko Riko's POV how things unfolded and AU with a happy ending.
1. Chapter one

**Disclaimer**

I don't own the characters from Kuroko no Baske. This is a work of fanfiction and purely for entertainment.

**Author's notes:**

For those who have read this story before, I have to thank you for reading my story, especially those who leaves nice reviews. I am grateful for your support.

However, recently I realized I made a major mistake in my story:The timeline was mixed up.

In the world of KNB and Japan, the timeline should be like this:

IH-Jabberwock-Winter Cup-3rd-years retire-winter vacation-college entrance exam

Therefore, the 3rd yrs (Riko, Hyuga etc.) would not be able to participate the training camp because they would be retired already to prepare for the college entrance exam.

So I editted the story from the beginning.

For those who haven't read this before, enjoy!

Story is set during extra game, right after Kuroko went to confront and got kicked by Nash. Everything happens next wouldn't go accordingly to the story. Pairing: Akashi x Riko.

I've always loved this rare pairing. I hope you enjoy my story.

kellyh000

* * *

**Chapter 1**

Riko gently pressed a ice pack against Kuroko's jaw. The teen jumped slightly to the sudden cold, but he didn't flinch away. He stilled and let his coach do her job.

She saw how bad the bruising was. Despite her curiosity, she wasn't sure if she wanted to know what had happened at the night club.

Riko turned her head to look at the others, especially at Kagami and Anomine's hands. They were no bruising, which indicated that they didn't got into a vicious fight.

The last thing this team needs is to get hurt before the game even started. Riko let out a sigh of relief internally, but her heart still tightened at her player's injuries.

Behind her, everyone was gazing at them. Wakamatsu looked furious as well, seeing how bad the kid's been hurt. Aomine somehow managed to regain some sensibility and held onto Momoi to keep her from tackling and sobbing against Kuroko; Murasakibara took out a bag of chips and started to consume it at a ridiculously fast rate, but he remained close and kept his eyes on Kuroko. Midorima stood afar with Takao by his side. Hyuga stood next to Kagami, calming his nerves as his senpai, his captain. Kise looked so sad and worried as if he were a dog that was abandoned by his master. Akashi kept his usual poker face and calm demeanor and sat nearby, watching her do her work silently.

Kuroko must've felt how pissed off she was, so he lowered his head apologetically. "Sorry for worrying you, coach."

"It's not just me you should apologize to," Riko huffed and ignored her player's puppy eyes. "_everyone_ was worried about you. Because we all care about you."

Kuroko's deadpan face blushed a little by her statement. She knew he wasn't used to being the center of the attention, but because of his own recklessness, he was now. His own teammates had went after him when they realized where he might've went. After being rescued by them, everyone had their attention on him, fearing he may do something stupid again.

When they came back, with Kise half-carrying a beaten-up Kuroko, she wasn't sure she should slap Kuroko for his stupidity or hug him for returning in one-piece.

But Akashi had came up to her, and made that decision for her. He ushered them inside and asked her to help Kuroko politely.

Even if he hadn't ask, Riko would still help Kuroko without a doubt, but she got the feeling that Akashi was trying to stop her from snapping at Kuroko and giving all of them a lecture.

And it worked._ Damn._

Riko sighed and handed Kuroko a towel to hold the ice pack. "Your neck seems fine. It's really your pretty face I'm worried about. You do realize you're gonna be on live tv tomorrow."

Kuroko tried to smile lightly, but winced in pain when he did. "Thank you, coach. I'll be alright."

Riko stared right back at him, and scanned all Kuroko's physical data. He should be a lot better tomorrow, but that didn't stop her from worrying. "You would've been, had you not went with my dad."

"I'm sorry."

"You should be." Riko snapped, and wanted to say a lot more, but she knew today was eventful enough, and the team really should calm their nerves and get some sleep for tomorrow. She turned back to face the crowd, and spoke with authority. "All of you, go home. Don't even think about go blowing off steam by going one-on-one."

To her satisfaction, Akashi backed her up immediately. "Aida-san is right. We have to be ready for tomorrow. Revenge can wait until then."

The players weren't exactly happy, but at least they followed through the red king's orders and went one after another to gather their things.

"Kagami." Riko called out to her player and gestured him to stay. The redhead came to her side without protest. "Coach?"

"Walk Kuroko home. And go home after that, don't you wander off to a street court."

Kagami seemed pleased by her request. She knew he was worried about his shadow too.

"Coach, I can go home myself-"

"-You can, but just not today." Akashi chimed in, and laid his order down. Kuroko gave in, as he knew it defying three people at the same time would do himself no good.

Riko nodded at the pair, and watched Kagami gently supporting Kuroko while walking. She turned to Akashi, and the captain was smiling at her. "We will win tomorrow." He assured her.

"I have no doubt that we will. Goodnight, Akashi-kun." Riko excused herself and went to the locker room. It was glad to know that the generation of miracles would definitely rain hell on Jabberwock tomorrow, not only for avenging Strky, proving their faith in basketball, but also for avenging Kuroko now. She knew this would be a lot more personal for them now. Even they would never admit it, they all cared for their former shadow.

* * *

Momoi and Aomine went home together. Midorima left with Takao. Kagami was tasked to walk Kuroko home, Murasakibara and Wakamatsu were already nowhere to be seen.

Hyuga offered to stay and help her close up the gym, but she insisted that she could do it by herself, and her dad was going to pick her up later anyway.

She saw her friend nodded reluctantly and left with their kuohai.

It's not that Riko didn't appreciate him treating her like a lady, but the truth was she just wanted to be left alone.

After everything she went through as a coach, she learned how to not wear her heart on her sleeve, but she actually went on an emotional roller-coaster ride tonight.

Seeing Kuroko got hurt brought up too much painful memories.

Kiyoshi had been seriously injured on the court, playing against those dirty son-of-a-bitches.

There was nothing she could do, she wanted to protect her players, but she couldn't come up with a strategy to prevent them from getting hurt and win at the same time. The only thing she could do was watch uselessly as Kiyoshi shielded entire Seirin behind with his own body.

She was the coach,and it was her responsibility to protect them. She failed them.

In the end, they won the match. But for Riko, it was hardly victory. Not when her player, her _friend_ had to pay a price of not being able to play basketball again without surgery.

Kiyoshi never blamed her, after the match, he only patted her on the head affectionately, like what he always did.

But she didn't know how to face him for a very long time.

"Aida-san."

Riko snapped out of her thoughts and spun around, and saw Akashi standing behind her with two drinks in his hands. He was wearing a causal shirt with his suit jacket and his gym bag slung over his shoulder. He offered her a drink, and she stilled for a second before taking it. _I'm being offered a drink by the red king_, she thought, _must be some kind of record._ "Thanks."

Akashi smiled warmly at her, yet somehow she felt a shiver down her spine. "I was wondering if we could have a word."

She nodded, it wasn't like she could say no anyway.

Riko never liked the red king. At first, it was just because they were opponents, nothing personal. But then Akashi had laid a hand on Kagami and literally pressed him to the ground. Even though Kagami wasn't really injured, she was beyond mad. She was very sensitive when it comes to the well-being of her players.

Even though she was told that the old Akashi was back, she could tell that the new Akashi didn't disappear. He still existed within the old Akashi, hidden beneath the benevolence. Which, frankly, creeps the hell out of her.

Akashi waited as she locked the door and he led the way out of the gym. It was chilly outside, and as soon they stepped outside, Riko regretted not bringing her jacket with her today. Her sweater wasn't warm enough, and the cold made her shiver involuntarily.

"Here," Akashi suddenly slipped out from his suit jacket and draped it on her shoulders before she could begin to protest. "better?"

Now Riko was truly startled. Akashi wouldn't be nice for no reason. They had a very professional and civilized relationship, even though they were from different schools, they had many discussions about the training regime for the past few days, and that was it. They shared their opinions about the team, and nothing more. They don't even know each other that well. But now Akashi was being very nice to her.

Which was not flattering at all. With the red king, you could never really guess his intention.

She must've been too startled to hide her emotions, because Akashi simply smiled and assured her. "I wanted to thank you for helping us out. Things wouldn't have gone so smoothly without your help."

They sat down together on the stairs in front of the gym, and Riko was briefly amazed by the fact that Akashi would actually would sit on stairs. It was something that his strict up-bringing would have never allowed.

Riko watched as the young man opened his can of red bean soup and took a sip. "I suppose you can thank me when we've won."

"You don't think we will?" Akashi seemed surprised by her comment.

"We will." Riko replied without hesitation. She wasn't worried about losing. Although Jabberwock was strong and powerful, the generation of miracles were the best of the best. She was worried about them getting hurt. Jabberwock was nothing but aggressive and blood-thirsty animals. When things get heated, she could even foresee them mix flashy moves with brute force and violence to win. Riko had wished that she was only overthinking, and kept her concerns and anxieties to herself. The boys really didn't need anymore pressure and fuel.

But seeing Kuroko getting beat-up made her lose previous hope entirely. It will be, without any doubt, a nasty fight tomorrow.

She opened her can and took a long sip. The can was still hot, which was a pleasant warmth in her hands. "Didn't know you liked red bean soup, though."

Riko changed the subject not-so-subtly, and she knew Akashi definitely noticed it, but to her relief, he didn't press on the previous subject. Instead, he went along. "I thought you would appreciate a hot beverage in this weather."

"I do appreciate it. Thank you." Riko held onto the can and set it on her knees. There's no way she'd believe that Akashi would actually went through the trouble of bringing her outside and enjoy red bean soup together just to 'thank her'. If it were another day, she'd cut right to the chase and ask him what does he really want with her, but she was too exhausted tonight, and perhaps let some stones unturned would be best. No matter what happens tomorrow, after tomorrow they wouldn't cross paths anymore, and everything would be back to normal.

Little did she know how wrong she was.

* * *

Akashi and Riko made some small talk, mostly about NBA and how to run the student council. She had to admit, Akashi wasn't talktive, but he was good at keeping the conversation going. He would bring up a topic and listen to her opinions, which made her feel a lot of comfortable and much less awkward than she had been.

Riko saw her father's car stopping across the street. She returned Akashi his jacket. "Thanks for this. Would you like a ride?"

Akashi shook his head. "I have someone to pick me up, too."

Riko almost forgot that Akashi came from an entiled family, and he probably had drivers. She nodded and said goodbye to him. The latter smiled and did the same.

After getting in her father's car, she listened to her father ramble about what a big mess Jabberwock have caused and how he's gonna kill them tomorrow. But then her thoughts drifted, and realized that her talk with Akashi wasn't as weird ad she thought it would be. She was still confused and skeptical at what he really wanted, but it wasn't _that_ unpleasant.

* * *

Riko lay on her bed and picked up her phone. She scrolled through her contacts, and stopped when she found her friend's number. After he went to Los Angeles, there was a 16-hour time difference between them. The only time they could talk was either late at night or in the early morning.

"Riko! How's the training going?"

"Smooth, I suppose...they are more than ready for the match tomorrow." Riko sighed against her phone.

"What's wrong? Tell me." Kiyoshi easily noticed something was wrong in her voice and pressed gently. This was why Riko likes to talk to Kiyoshi. Sometimes, she felt that he was the only person that really understood her, and someone who she could talk to.

Riko smile sadly. They had a very brief romantic relationship that didn't work out.

_They didn't start off on the right foot the first time they saw each other, but their feelings grew over all the time they spent together on the basketball team. They shared a chemistry, but they both didn't make any advanced moves._

_But it didn't mean that Riko didn't want more. She wasn't sure what Kiyoshi was thinking._

_Someday in their junior years, Kiyoshi had walked Riko home after practice. When they reached her house, Kiyoshi said Goodbye and turned to leave._

_Until this day, Riko still didn't know what she was thinking at the time, but she couldn't help but grabbed his hand and stopped him on his tracts. Kiyoshi was startled and turned to look at her. She wanted some reassurance, something to let her know that she wasn't alone, but she didn't know what to say. She knew he saw the desperation in her eyes, because to her surprise, he had bent down and pressed his lips against hers briefly._

_The kiss was gentle, as if he were assuring her that the feeling was mutual._

_He straightened up, and brushed his thumb against her cheek tenderly. She still remembered how it felt after all these days._

_"See you tomorrow." he had said, as if promising her that there would be a future for them, confirming their relationship._

_And they did, for a while. They kept it a secret. No one on the team even noticed, they always assumed they were just friends._

_But they had held hands when no one was paying attention. Sat next to each other when they had lunch. Just the little things they did discreetly that no one really noticed._

_Until Kiyoshi was hospitalized._

_After the game, Riko realized that their relationship would never work out because they were exactly the same kind of person._

_They were both way smarter than their teammates, which made them think that it was their responsibility to lead and protect the team._

_Except that Riko had failed as a coach while Kiyoshi succeed by sacrificing himself to protect the team with his own body._

_They were both selfless when it comes to protecting the people they care, and extremely selfish to follow through their own beliefs, even if it hurts the people who cares about them._

_She had begged him not to risk his basketball career, but he didn't listen. He held Seirin above anything else, though knowing the risk, he never wavered._

_They liked each other, and tried, and failed. They never really ended things formerly. But they knew each other and a look was all they needed. She had visited him at the hospital once. She held his hand in silence. His hands were extremely large and strong, but he was always gentle with her. Before she left, she gave him a kiss-on the cheek. He had stilled, got the message that they were no longer in the relationship where she could kiss him on the lips, and put his arms around her and patted her back soothingly. She realized Kiyoshi must've had predicted that they wouldn't work out as a couple for some time now. He was always a better judge of relationships and character than she was._

_After that, they were still close, just no longer as a couple. But as two people who understood each other. If Riko had to define their relationship now, Kiyoshi was a brother to her._

Riko? Are you there?" Kiyoshi asked when she went silent all of a sudden.

Riko snapped out from her nostalgia. "Uh, yeah, something happened today," Riko forced her mind back to the events earlier and explained the Kuroko situation to Kiyoshi.

"Is he okay?" Kiyoshi's voice went serious. He cared for Seirin's players as much as she did.

"He's alright. But Jabberwock won't be," Riko didn't bother to hide the hatred in her voice. "the GOM and Kagami are looking forward to crush them tomorrow."

Kiyoshi went silent for a while before speaking up again. "You're happy, aren't you?"

Riko asked incredulously. "What for?" He all of people should know how much she hated seeing her players get hurt.

"Not for Kuroko getting hurt, of course. But for training the generation of miracles." Kiyoshi explained.

Riko opened her mouth, but she couldn't say a word. Again, he knew her all too well. She loved her job as a coach, and she enjoyed seeing her players get better and better under her training regimes. The generation of miracles had better physical conditions than normal athletes, and the training results were much better than what she expected. She did enjoy training those brats, no matter how arrogant they were. "Yes," she sighed in defeat. "but my loyalties have not changed. I promised you that I'll cover your place of protecting_ our _team until you come back."

Kiyoshi chuckled. "I trust you, Riko. I wasn't even worried. I just want you to have fun tomorrow. It's a rare opportunity, after all."

"It is, isn't it?" Riko yawned. "I have to go. Watch the game on Youtube, I'll send you the link."

"I will, goodnight, Riko. And tell Kagami and Kuroko I wish them luck."

"Ok. Goodnight, Teppei." Riko smiled, and hung up the phone. She thought she'd be too anxious and excited to sleep tonight, but talking to Kiyoshi always calmed her down. She knew they'll always have each other's back, and that made Riko smile right before she fell asleep.

* * *

The next morning, Riko's dad had drove them to the court where the match's being held. Riko called Kagami to wake him up on the way. She knew from past experience how worked up Kagami could be before important games and how likely he'd overslept. And she predicted correctly. She had to call Bagami three times before he was lucid enough to answer his phone. She sighed, hoped everything would go well and walked to the court with her dad after they arrived.

As the organizer of the rematch, Riko's dad gave Riko the free pass to invite whoever she wanted. Naturally, the entire Seirin team were at the VIP area. Riko had consulted Momoi, and decided to invite Too and Shutoku's players and their coach, as they were in Tokyo as well. And then more and more people got invited, eventually, the guest list was filled with names she recognized as basketball players from various schools. Surely, they were all furious as hell, and wanted to see the best team in Japan to crush Jabberwock.

Although most of the seats were still empty, Izuki and the other third and first graders had already arrived, and Izuki greeted her first. "Coach!" The others saw her and greeted her as well.

Riko turned to look at her dad, and her dad nodded at her, telling her that they still have some time before they got busy.

Riko nodded, and walked over to the VIP area to greet her players. "Like the view, kids?"

"Couldn't miss this for the world, coach." Koganei replied cheekily, and turned to look at his friend. "Mitobe says thank you for inviting us." Mitobe nodded in confirmation and smiled.

"This would be a good game. Try not to focus on mentally murdering Jabberwock all the time. You have the best view, so watch and learn." Riko ordered, and realized that the second-graders were nowhere to be seen. She looked at the vice captain.

"They're waiting for Kuroko and Kagami outside." Izuki explained.

Riko nodded. She knew no matter how close the entire team was, the second-years would always be closer to each other, and so were the third-years. The first-years were still newbies, though some had real potential, but they didn't go through what their seniors did. They had went through wars and won national championship together, and the bond between them was too strong.

At the corner of her eye, she saw her father was talking to a reporter, and waved a hand at her. Riko looked at Izuki again, and the latter nodded. He knew that she expected him to get Seirin under control in their captain's absence.

Satisfied, she walked over to stand beside her father and took the interview together.

After winning national championship, Seirin received a lot of attention. But mostly it was directed at Kagami and the phantom, as the coach, she often stayed out of interviews and left Hyuga in charge those.

She did it on purpose. She knew that her players respected her and would never question her ability, but there definitely were people who don't think that way.

Being a young, female basketball coach wasn't easy. There were self-righteous males and jealous females who didn't like seeing her succeed. She had heard hateful rumors about her messing around with players or how bad she was as a coach in her own school.

_Haters gonna hate_, but she didn't have to add fuel to it. She didn't have to prove anything to anyone, because she knew she was good enough to be questioned. But she still preferred to stay out of the headlights and kept a low profile. She still cared for her reputation.

But her father had encouraged her to do more interviews. Share her professional opinions with the reportors, and let them promote Seirin in their stories.

The reporter was visibly excited. She remembered meeting him at last year's Winter Cup. He had interviewed Seirin then.

The match today, undoubtedly was a high-profile one. Vorpal Swords was a dream team. With the entire generation of miracles, the rising two stars of Seirin, and a seasoned ex-player of the national basketball team as a coach, along with the assistance of the best manager and intel-collector, and the woman who led a nobody-school to national championship.

Her dad just finished answering a question when she joined them, and the reporter turned to face her. "Nice to meet you again, Aida-san."

Riko smiled at him. "Likewise. It's nice to have you here with us today." The reporter was professional and always polite. He had never looked down upon Seirin like some of his colleagues did before Seirin won the Winter Cup. She revealed some details of the training, and the reporter listened to her intently.

"Excuse us," Riko's dad cut in after she spoke. "the players are here now. We have to get ready."

"Of course, thank you to you both." The reporter walked back to where the media area was, and Riko and her dad walked to the player's locker room.

Everyone was there, warming up.

"Alright!" Riko heard her dad cheer. "Let's go murder those bastards!"

* * *

TBC and please review.


	2. Chapter 2

**chapter 2**

**Author's notes:**

Hi and thanks for reading my story. But I have to tell you that I'm not good at describing basketball scenes, so I skipped the whole game...sorry.

Chapter is set immediately after Vorpal Swords have won.

Anyways, happy reading,

kellyh000

* * *

The crowd went absolutely wild when Kagami and Aomine ended the match with a dunk.

Beside Riko, Momoi jumped up and down in excitement before turning to her to give her a big hug. She smiled, and hugged back tightly.

One of the many things Riko liked about the young manager was she would always let you know her affection towards you. It's nice to be liked. Although they were on opponents the fist time they met, but after last year's winter cup, they have became good friends and hung out a lot. Usually to drink coffee and to complain about how stupid boys were.

Riko glanced at the court, and saw the boys highfiving each other while Jabberwock starred at the score board in horror and disbelief.

Take that and suck it up, losers. Riko thought.

It was always nice to be on the winning side.

They went back to the gym where they practiced, and Momoi ordered food for everyone, insisting on throwing a celebration party.

Riko's dad was drinking beer with his former teammates-namely the coaches from Too and Shutoku. They sat at the table in the corner, having an adults-only discussion.

Vorpal Swords and the second and third year of Seirin were also invited by their coach to join the celebration and enjoy the food.

Riko had took Murasakibara to a nearby hospital to treat his injury, and joined them afterwards.

The teens gathered around and ate the food in total silence. They were supposed to be celebrating their hard-earned victory, but everyone seemed to be more interested in the food. Somehow, Riko ended up sitting between Akashi and Momoi, and she could tell the awkward silence was bothering Kagami, and he tried to say something but he didn't know what to say, so he remained shut.

She couldn't blame him. The truth was, she wasn't that comfortable sitting next to Akashi either.

During the training, Akashi was always polite-friendly, even and have been a perfect gentleman towards her, but it still felt weird, knowing what he had done before and how dangerous he could be.

Riko turned her head at her players. Seirin had played against the GOM, and knew just how powerful and scary they could be. Especially Furihata. She had some responsibility for that.

During Winter Cup, she had thrown Furihata into the court to face Akashi. In a lot of people's eyes, she was either out of her mind or a cold-blooded coach to leave Furihata (a chihuahua) at the mercy of Akashi (a lion). Everyone was totally baffled at her decision.

But Kiyoshi had trusted her and understood what she was doing.

Furihata was too timid, but he was also prudent and very good at cooperating with teammates. Which was exactly what Seirin needed at the time.

But she had another agenda. Furihata has to believe that he wasn't worthless and all he needed was a push to make him see what he was capable of. As she anticipated, playing against Akashi had done the trick. It took great courage and good judgment, both of which Furihata had already possessed.

Riko never told the kid, but she was very proud of his progress. And even more proud of herself for discovering a player's true potential.

"Riko-chan? What are you smiling about?" Momoi noticed her smile and asked curiously. Suddenly everyone lost their interest in their food and turned to look at Riko.

She felt everyone's stare, expecting her to say something to break the thin ice. She sighed internally. "Just thinking about my favorite moment from last year's Winter Cup."

"The moment we defeated Hanamiya?" Izuki suggested. Seirin absolutely hated Hanamiya for his team and their dirty moves which made Kiyoshi's injuries worse.

"Well, that was very satisfying and epic. But not my favorite."

"Then what's your favorite moment, coach?" Kagami asked, intrigued.

Riko glanced at the others. They were all waiting for her answer. For a moment, she wanted to say her favorite moment was when she sent Furihata to face Akashi, but she didn't think none of them would understand. So she lied and gave them an obvious answer. "Winning the national championship, of course." Riko said cheekly.

Everyone from Seirin grinned at her answer, while the others looked annoyed.

"Perhaps, Aida-san, we could have a rematch?" Akashi suddenly spoke up.

Riko turned to look at the redhead in disbelief. "Sorry, what rematch?"

"A rematch, between Seirin and us, the generation of miracles."

Riko heard some players from Seirin drop their food. She saw Hyuga choke on his drink from the corner of her eye.

"Sounds good to me," Aomine immediately agreed and provoked Kagami."unless you're scared."

"I AM NOT SCARED OF YOU!" Kagami yelled back.

Akashi was still looking at her, waiting for her answer, and so were the others from the GOM. He made a mild suggestion, but he wasn't really asking. Riko knew Akashi must've been waiting for some time to get back at Seirin for defeating all of them.

And being the hothead Kagami was, he already accepted the challenge, and now they really don't have a chance to back away.

Riko could only think of one outcome of this match. It wasn't that she didn't have faith in them, but she really couldn't see another future other than Seirin being slaughtered by the entire GOM.

And Kiyoshi wasn't even here to fight beside them, which made it worse.

"Murasakibara-kun has a broken arm." Riko stated, implying he has to sit on the bench.

"Nah~I'm fine, Riko-chin. I can play~" Murasakibara disagreed.

Riko rolled her eyes. If things get really bad, she trusts Akashi to step in and send the purple-haired giant back on a bench. "Fine, but on one condition."

"What is it, Aida-chhi? Is it that you want my autograph?" Kise offered generously, but everyone ignored him.

"I'm planning on making a video of reviewing the match today and I need all of your consent as you're gonna be in it."

" Huh...whatever." Aomine sincerely didn't care as long as he gets to play against Kagami.

Midorima and Murasakibara didn't protest, which basically meant 'ok' from them.

"I look forward to your review video, Aida-chhi, but why do you ignore me as well=(;w;)=" Kise said while wiping his tears.

Riko looked at Akashi who hasn't said a thing. "Of course, Aida-san. A review video from you would be defintely nice."

"Coach..." Izuki called from behind her, and she turned to look at her vice captain. "we really are playing?"

Riko gave him a "it's-not-what-I-want-but-Bagami-already-accepted-it-what-can-I-do' look. "You guys go change, I'll go ask my dad to be the referee." She commanded, and the players followed her instruction.

The others stood up as well, and went to change their clothes.

Her players look none too enthusiastic about playing against the entire generation of miracles at the same time. They have defeated them one-by-one, but all of them combined was impossible for Seirin to defeat.

* * *

Both teams held nothing back, which was terrible for Seirin. During the fourth quarter, Midorima went into the zone after getting several perfect passes from Akashi.

_Seriously, give me a break. _Riko thought. They already ran out of time-outs, and there was nothing she could do to help them.

Riko gave everything she could, changed the formations, strategies, but to no avail. She had to fought back the tears that nearly escaped. She had already told her players that she wouldn't blame them if they lost, but she expects them not to give up. It was a rare opportunity, and she hoped they could learn something from the game, no matter how bad their odds were. And they kept fighting.

Riko's dad blew the whistle, signaling the game was over. She looked at her team.

Kagami and Kuroko, who already played an intense game earlier were so exhausted that they could barely stand. Riko looked at the others. They were all tired as well, but at least they none of them look frustrated. They had a tough game, and they did their very best. She was proud of them. All she wanted was to lead a team that never give up.

She walked towards her players, and patted some of them on the shoulder.

* * *

Everything went back to normal.

Jabberwock went back to the US, and paid Riko's dad back every single penny they owed. The generation of miracles were satisfied that they made their come-back to defeat Seirin and went back to their own schools. She went back to train Seirin for this year's Winter Cup and rewatched the match over and over again to write the script for her review video. She was going to review the match from her point of view as a coach, but she realized that it's best if she had someone to explain some technical skills as a player to make the video complete. She told Momoi about it while having afternoon tea together on a weekend before the Winter Cup.

"Riko-chan, why don't you ask Akashi-kun?"

Riko starred at the girl. Momoi was sipping her strawberry milk and looked at her with wide, innocent eyes. "...Do you really think that's a good idea?"

"Why not? Akashi-kun would definitely review the game with you! "

Riko didn't want to see Akashi for a lot of reasons, let alone doing a review video with him. First of all, he was the one who brought up the rematch with the GOM in the first place. "You don't even know he'll agree to do it. And second, even if he does agree, I have to go all the way to Kyoto."

"But Rakuzan would come to Tokyo for the Winter Cup! Call him now!" Momoi was very certain that Akashi would agree for some reason.

"...I don't have his number." Riko said after a long moment of silence, failing to find a decent excuse.

"Then I'll call him for you!" Momoi took out her phone and made the call before Riko could stop her "Hello, Akashi-kun! Riko-chan wants to ask you if you want to review the Jabberwock match together!"

Across Momoi, Riko mouthed "_I said no such thing!_"

Momoi ignored her and listened to the other end and nodded cheerfully. Riko starred at Momoi wide-eyed. It was too late now.

Momoi handed her phone and gestured her to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Aida-san. I would love to review the match with you, but Rakuzan won't arrive at Tokyo until next week."

Riko was relieved. Momoi made the request on her behalf all of a sudden and it was quite rude of her. "That's alright, Akashi-kun. We can finish the script during this week. We can film it later."

"Of course. I look forward to discuss it with you. Perhaps we should exchange numbers?" Akashi asked.

Riko gave him her number, and they said goodbye. A few seconds later, she received a text containing a phone number, which was from Akashi.

Riko saved the number and handed Momoi's phone back to her.

"See?" Momoi was very excited. "I told you Akashi-kun would do the video with you!"

Riko sighed. When it comes to the GOM, she supposed the pink-haired manager would have a better guess of what they would think. "Thanks, anyway. Saved me a lot of trouble of finding someone to do the review with."

But Riko had to admit, despite of her reluntance to meet Akashi again, he was the best she could hope for. He had exceptional analyzing skills and sharp eyes. He would definitely provide some enlightening insight, and raise the profile as well. She was a professional, and she could set her personal feelings aside.

* * *

It was very unusual for Akashi stop in the middle of training to take a personal call.

"Sei-chan? Who were you talking to?" Mibuchi picked up his towel and walked over to his captain after seeing Akashi smiling all of a sudden after he ended the call.

"It was Aida-san, Seirin's coach." Akashi replied.

"Heh?" Mibuchi was surprised. He never saw Akashi smile like that when talking to girls. He had always been perfectly polite towards females, but this was the first time Mibuchi saw Akashi smile while interacting with a girl. _Interesting. _

Akashi saw the look on his vice captain's face, and had a pretty good guess on what he was assuming, but he didn't stop Mibuchi's imaginations.

There were imaginations now, but soon, they won't be any more. Akashi was sure of that.

Akashi knew the reason Aida Riko wanted to do the review video was because she wanted to do PR for Seirin in the first place. The match against Jabberwock was incredibly high-profile, and doing a review video would probably get the attention of basketball lovers, and she, as the coach of Seirin and along with Seirin, would also be noticed as well.

He had always admired her, even back when he wasn't 'himself'. He had watched Seirin from the start of Winter Cup, and no matter how good Seirin's players were, they would've never made it that far if it weren't for her leadership and strategies.

She was only a 17 year-old student, but she had led the team like a seasoned coach. However, in his opinion, she was not recognized at all. Seirin was interviewed a lot after the Winter Cup, and there were plenty of articles about them in basketball magazines, however, they were all heavily focused on the first-year duo. Then came Kiyoshi and Hyuga and Izuki. She was barely mentioned.

Akashi understood why. First, a lot of reporters underestimated how important she was to Seirin. Even if some of them didn't, they would never focus on her, instead they would write about Kagami and Kuroko, who were the ace and the center of most people's _attention._ They would never write a lot about a 17 year-old female student as the coach.

However, he would never let such thing happen again. He was confident that after watching the review that they did together, everyone would see her professionalism and extent of basketball knowledge goes way beyond her gender and age.

She had helped bring him back, for that reason alone, he was eternally grateful. During the rematch ,he saw her looking up to the ceiling to stop the tears from falling with his emperor eye. He didn't mean to hurt her in any way. He planned on making it up to her, and help her make the review was only the first step.

Akashi held on to his phone tightly. He would never allow anyone to look down on her anymore.

* * *

Riko had a really busy week. Seirin discussed and practiced a lot of formations for the Winter Cup. They lost during the IH this year, and they finally made it to the Winter Cup this year. After losing Kiyoshi, Seirin lost a major player and their matches only got tougher and tougher.

Riko and Akashi discussed what they could cover in the review video as well. She would focus on the strategies from her point of view as a coach, which was more objective. Akashi would cover the players' physical stats from his point of view as the captain. Riko could do it, too, but she didn't think other than Seirin (who knew about her analyzer's eye)would believe a word she said.

A week later, Riko went to the hotel where Rakuzan was staying at.

Rakuzan must be really rich, because the hotel wasn't cheap at all. Sometimes she wished that Seirin could have as much resources as they do.

Riko sighed and texted Akashi to let him know that she had arrived.

"Ehh? Aren't you the Coach of Seirin?" Someone asked, and she looked up to see Hayama Kotaro standing in front of her. Behind him was a group of boys wearing Rakuzan's uniform.

"Yes, nice to meet you." Riko was partly surprised that he recognized who she was.

Riko felt slightly awkward. After all, Seirin defeated them last year, and now she was being crowded by Rakuzan's players.

"Wow! I never saw you up close, but you're actually really cute! What are you doing here alone? Do you want to go out with me-Awwww!"

Mibuchi appeared out of nowhere and dragged Hayama away by the collar with one hand. He smiled warmly at her. "Aida-san, I apologize for his behavior. Please just ignore him."

Riko felt much more comfortable dealing Mibuchi. He had caught her when she almost fell last year, and he had been a perfect gentleman. "It' ok, Mibuchi-kun. "

"You're welcome, Aida-san. Are you waiting for Sei-chan? He'll come down at any time."

Before Riko could reply, Hayama squeaked. "Eh?! Akashi?! You're waiting for Akashi?"

Mibuchi used his other hand to cover his teammate's mouth and whispered in his ear. "If you want to live, I suggest you keep your mouth shut."

Hayama didn't get the hint at first, and he fought back to break free from Mibuchi's hold, but then he saw Akashi approaching them. Hayama immediately quieted down, sensing that it wasn't appropriate to keep yelling and his life might really be in danger if he continued.

Akashi was wearing Rakuzan's uniform coat (the white one, not the suit). Riko always thought that Rakuzan's uniform coat looked a lot like ugly pajamas. But Akashi still managed to look good in them.

Akashi stopped in front of them and greeted her, and nodded at his teammates. Mibuchi got the cue and quickly dragged Kotaro away after saying "Sorry to intrude." and "It was really nice to meet you!" to her.

"This way, Aida-san. I borrowed the conference room. We can record there." Akashi smiled and led the way.

"I haven't properly thanked you for agreeing to do this with me, Akashi-kun."

"Of course, Aida-san. It's my pleasure. I would love to hear your thoughts on this match. "

"You're too kind. I'm sure you can analyze the match far more thoroughly than I could."

"You're just being humble, Aida-san. Don't forget that you lead Seirin and defeated us last year. You're an exceptional strategist. "

_Not exceptional enough to kick your ass again_, Riko thought. She merely smiled and averted her gaze.

* * *

Mibuchi and the rest of the Rakuzan players sat together at the restaurant. As the vice captain, he had keep them under control in Akashi's absence, but being the big sister was rather tiring. Hayama behaved like a child for 90% of the time and Eikichi Nebuya had terrible table manners and burped too much. Caught in between them was a nightmare. He missed Akashi so much. Even watching Akashi eat was a fine sight to sore eyes.

And then God must've heard his silent prayer, because somehow Akashi showed up-with Aida Riko. He was carrying Aida's bag for her, and Aida looked mildly awkward.

"Sei-chan!"Mibuchi cried in happiness. Everyone stopped eating and turned to see the duo, and all had confused and surprised expressions to see Aida Riko present. Hayama dropped his chopsticks upon seeing Akashi bringing a girl with him.

Akashi greeted his team before explaining. "I invited Aida-san to have dinner with us to thank her for assisting me and Vorpal Swords and inviting me to record the review video."

"Welcome, Aida-san!" Mibuchi stood up and gently guided her to an empty seat beside him before anyone else dared to protest. Some of the first-stringers were already displeased but they smartly kept their opinions to themselves. He saw Akashi took the seat next to her, which confirmed his prior assumptions._ There must be something going on between the two. _

Mibuchi smiled. Dinner's about to be much more interesting.

During the entire meal, Mibuchi paid a lot of attention to Aida Riko to make sure she didn't feel comfortable sitting with them. He asked about the review video that she and Akashi just filmed, which caught all of the attention of the basketball idiots present. Everyone was intrigued and the flow of the conversation became lighter. Mibuchi smiled when he saw Aida relaxed a bit and started to talk more, and Akashi suddenly caught his eye.

_Thank you._ His captain said silently.

Mibuchi smiled brightly and nodded slightly so no one would discover the little exchange between them. He really respected and liked his captain, and he would never let anyone stand between Akashi and his future girlfriend.

* * *

After walking her to the bus station, Riko and Akashi parted ways and she went on her way home. She was exhausted but content. She got her review video-she would post it online after editing, and dinner with the Rakuzan boys went better than she expected. Mibuchi had went out of his way to make sure that she was taken care of.

She knew that Akashi insisting on buying her dinner was not just to thank her for her help-he was also apologizing for the rematch against Seirin. For no reason, she knew that he must've saw her nearly crying that day.

Riko sighed, not wanting to give the know-it-all red-head any more thoughts. At least now she had one thing left to do-focus on winning during Winter Cup.

Kiyoshi had went to the US for surgery and rehab. Seirin didn't just lose a center with a passing sense, they lost one of the three founding members and a reliable senpai. She and Hyuga missed him the most.

They lost during the IH, and Seirin has to make their come-back in Winter Cup.

Seirin made adjustments, but only time would tell how many of it would work. But whatever comes in her way, Riko was confident that she would lead better than she did last year. She has to.

Seirin was lucky-they made it through the preliminary. At the very least, they got the ticket to compete in the Winter Cup. But she felt exhausted on the inside. After winning last year's championship, every school had studied their formation and tactics, which was really bad for them. But eventually, they still won, thanks to their own training and bond with each other.

But now, they real threat lies ahead. She had to think of more and more strategies based on their future opponents to keep the element of surprise. Which was not difficult, the difficult part was she wasn't sure how well her players could carry them out.

* * *

It was already in the early am when Riko finished editing the video. She uploaded the video to Youtube and posted the link on her twitter account, and went right to bed as she could barely keep her eyes open anymore.

The next morning, she didn't have to go to school, so she slept in until she decided to muster the strength to wake up and fetched her phone. She turned to lay on her side and connected it to her Wifi. Her brain was still slow and dull, and she was still blinking sleepily when she saw her phone explode with twitter notifications.

* * *

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Riko was surprised-she only posted the link less than 12 hours ago, but her tweet had already been retweeted hundreds of times. She didn't even have that many followers. And the review video itself already got more than a thousand views, which was ridiculous, but in a good way.

She sat up and started to scroll through the retweets and likes, and recognized most of the handles were names of basketball players from different schools. She went on to read the replies and comments, and she smiled upon seeing some of them.

SatsukiMomoi0504: Riko-chan and Akashi-kun are amazing~~~Even more amazing than I thought~~~ d=(^^)=b

RyotaKise_official:Finally! Akashi-chhi and Aida-chhi are so awesome!(≧▽≦)

Reonee_love: Sei-chan and Aida-san really did an incredible job! I really hope you can review more games❤

Vanilla_shakes_16: Thank you, coach. You really did a lot to help us and the review video was even better.

Few people commented, but she saw Midorima, Murasakibara and Aomine, along with players from Seirin also liked Kuroko's comment.

* * *

Seirin met up later that day to attend the opening ceremony of the Winter Cup. They didn't have a match until tomorrow, but they still decided to stay and watch their future opponents.

As Hyuga led Seirin into the arena, a lot of people turned their heads and stared at them. As they lined up, Riko realized that Hyuga was a real national-level captain, and got no longer cold feet while being in the center of attention. He held his head high, unafraid.

Riko was relieved that even without Kiyoshi, their mental support, they still held their ground and supported each other like a family.

* * *

(A lot of fast forward)

Seirin lost to Kaijo by 7 points.

Everyone did their best, but by the fourth quarter, Koroko and Kagami had already lost most of their strength and could barely stand. In the end, their couldn't stop Kise's perfect copy this time.

Riko and the third-years stood in front of their underclassmen in their changing room.

"We lost, and this is the end for us. It is time for the third-years to retire." Hyuga stated.

The underclassmen looked startled. "Wait a minute, senpai! What are you saying all of a sudden?" Kagami asked.

"Shut your mouth and listen up! This is the end for us, but the rest of you can still carry on." Hyuga barked.

"Hyuga is right," Izuki spoke up. "keep up with your training and you can make it next year."

"Furihata!" Hyuga called out. "You're the captain now."

Everyone went silent for a moment to process what Hyuga just said. And then the second-year kid went pale after he processed the news. "...Me...me?! Captain, are you...kid..kidding?"

"It's already decided by me, Coach and Kiyoshi." Hyuga countered.

"Have a little faith in yourself, Furihata-kun. Because we all do." Riko reassured him. "That's why I sent you to face Kasamatsu-san and Akashi-kun last year. Your cautiousness is essential for a PG. You'll lead the team just fine."

"But I failed...I couldn't stopped them then. I was useless." Furihata stopped trembling in panic, but he still had doubts in himself.

"Then rely on your teammates, idiot!" Hyuga slapped Furihata with more force than necessary, but the latter didn't flinch. "No one asked you to go up against the five of them. You just have to coordinate and trust your teammates to score."

Furihata looked around at his teammates. He knew he was no where near talented, but every teammate gave him a trusting and encouraging smile. No one defied their senpai's decision or thought he was unworthy. For the first time, Furihata felt an overwhemling sense of responsibility and confidence.

"As for the vice captain, Kuroko, you're up." Hyuga continued.

"...I understand." Kuroko didn't ask any questions, he merely accepted with a seriousness that assured the third-years.

Riko thought Kuroko must've understood their arrangement. Furihata was still timid, but with Kuroko by his side, he could give him a lot of advice and support the team emotionally.

Kuroko couldn't be the captain because he would've been in too much attention if he were, and it would only end badly for his misdirection. But he could still lead the team as the vice captain.

"But coach, are you retiring as well?" Kagami asked, concerned.

"Of course I am, Bagami, I have to go to university next year. But my father will take my place, so don't worry."

"Eh? But didn't Kagetora-san say he won't be a coach anymore?"

"Leave him to me and just trust me to_ handle_ him." Riko replied confidently. "Alright now, boys. Cheer up a bit. Let's go watch the next game."

"The next game?"

"Yes," Riko smiled darkly."the game should be highly-entertaining."

* * *

Rakuzan was changing their clothes and getting warmed up in their locker room.

"Hey, Reo-nee. Seirin lost to Kaijo already." Hayama said to Mibuchi. "I was sort of hoping to go up against them this year."

"Yes, yes, can you just focus on the next game?" Mibuchi shushed him.

"...Why do I feel you and Akashi are more hyped than usual?"Hayama whispered.

Mibuchi casted Hayama a glance. "Kotaro, during the match later, if you don't want to die, I suggest you go 200%."

"Heh?! Why?! Kirisaki Daiichi doesn't even have a GOM member, we'll win easily!"

"We will win, of course, " Mibuchi explained, "but Sei-chan would want us to **destroy** them, trust me."

"Ehh? Oh..." Hayama was still confused by Mibuchi's answer, but he merely scratched his head and wandered off to the men's room.

_You idiot, Sei-chan' s obviously going to crush Kirisaki for Aida-san. _Seirin lost already, and Aida-san must be feeling terrible right now. And besides, Akashi knew how much she hated Kirisaki for hurting Seirin. Mibuchi huffed and stretched his arms.

He had a feeling that if they didn't score points two times more than Kirisaki, their training would be tripled.

* * *

Riko sat among the audience and starred at the score board. 129:45.

Normally, Rakuzan wouldn't send all 3 uncrowned kings and Akashi out on the court together, but she saw Akashi talking to his coach prior to the match, and Rakuzan sent their best team.

Akashi and Hanamiya both played PG, which ended rather badly for the latter.

Hanamiya and his teammates wanted to use dirty moves, but Akashi used his emperor eye and adjusted the strategy and handled the ball and prevented any damage that could've happened to him and his teammates. Akashi used a lot of ankle breakers as well.

She watched Hanamiya' s expressions darkened in frustration and anger and stomped off. Rakuzan had completely destroyed Kirisaki's future.

Which was somewhat comforting after losing. Riko thought.

* * *

Riko followed through her promise and threatened her father that if he didn't take her position as the coach, she would start crying and never talk to him again.

The latter naturally compromised and agreed out of his love for his daughter. Riko knew she was playing unfairly, but she needed her father to take the job. If he didn't Seirin would have to employ someone to be the coach, but she didn't trust the new coach to care about the players. She was worried that the new coach would over-train the players, just to make them win in games.

But her father would never do that. He cared about victory, but he cared about the boys as well. She had learned everything from him, and he would only train Seirin better than she did.

After she and the third-years retire, they used every minute of their time to study. But somehow Riko still wanted to go watch the Winter Cup matches. Even though she wasn't the coach anymore, it was a habit of hers to analyze basketball games and matches. After checking her study schedule and an intense internal self-debate, she decided to go watch the games.

Riko didn't tell anyone that she was going. She just wanted to be alone, as it was the very last moments of her basketball coach career.

She wore casual clothes and blended in with the crowd. Shutoku was playing against Kaijo, and a lot of people showed up to watch the game. After failing to find a seat, she sighed and stood behind a pillar to wait for the game to start.

"Ahh...Isn't this Seirin's coach? Why are you here alone?" Someone with a Kansai accent said behind her. Riko had to struggle not to flinch. She really didn't expect to be recognized. Riko turned to see Imayoshi, the previous captian of Too smiling at her. He walked to stand next to her.

"Imayoshi-san." Riko greeted him. "You're alone as well. Didn't you come with Too? "

"Hahaha, true. There's something I wanted to talk to you about, so I left them behind." Imayoshi paused. "Unless you preferred an audience."

"No. But I have to confess, I have no idea what you wanted to talk to me about." This was the first time they actually interacted with each other.

"I attend University of Tokyo now," Imayoshi explained "and I play on the school team."

"Why? There's no team in your department?"

"We do, but we digress. I'm recruiting you to be the manager on the school team."

"Imayoshi-san. I don't think that-" the crowd suddenly started to cheer very loudly for both of the teams as they entered the court. She waited the crowd to quiet down, but she was getting impatient and really wanted to get rid off the fox."-thank you for your offer, but I'm afraid I won't be able to take it."

"Why not?"

"Well, for starters, I have to get in Tokyo Uni, which is not that easy."

"Modesty suits you, Aida-san, but Momoi has kindly provided your academic scores, and getting into Tokyo Uni shouldn't be difficult for you." Imayoshi pressed.

Riko huffed. This guy was serious and he was really trying to recruit her. "Thank you for your faith in me to get into the University with highest standards, but even if I did, I won't be participating in any basketball clubs anymore. I have been both the coach ana the manager for three years, and I'm really tired."

"I don't think that's true, Aida-san. You're still here after your retirement, aren't you? Analyzing game for Seirin for future matches when you should be studying."

Riko casted him a side glance and retorted with a calm voice. "Yes, I imagine you know quite a lot about it, Imayoshi-san."

Too, like this year's Seirin, had lost in early stages of the Winter Cup last year, forcing the third-years to retire early. But despite their retirement, the third-years still showed up to watch the matches.

"Ouch, that hurt." Imayoshi said smiling, which meant her words did little harm to him. "Minus the hostility, I think you'd be a great manager. I watched the review video you did with Akashi. It was very impressive."

"Impressive indeed." Someone said behind them.

Both Riko and Imayoshi were startled, and turned to see Akashi standing behind them.

"Akashi-kun?" Riko was surprised to see him.

"Hello, Aida-san. Imayoshi-san. "

"Well, look who we have here. " Imayoshi regained his posture quickly. "Why are you here alone, Akashi-kun? Did you not come with Rakuzan?"

"I did, but I have some matters to discuss with Aida-san."

Riko looked at the red-head. _ What matters?_

"Heh~what a coincidence! I do, too! So, perhaps, Akashi-kun, you could wait for a moment-" Imayoshi was cut off in mid-sentence when Wakamatsu discovered him and called him out loud. "IMAYOSHI SENPAI! OVER HERE! The game is about to start!"

"For goodness' sake, he's the captain now." Imayoshi looked mildly embarrassed when everyone around them turned to look at him because of Wakamatsu's voice. "As much as I'd love to continue our conversation, I have to teach my kouhai how to keep his voice down. Excuse me."

Riko and Akashi watched Imayoshi walked towards his former teammates. "So, is there any 'matters' that you really wanted to discuss with me or did you just say that to rescue me?"

Akashi chuckled. "Both. There is something I wanted to talk to you about. I was wondering if you and I could do more review videos after you have finished your exam."

"Review videos? Of this year's winter cup?"

"Yes, we could also do a comparison between this year's and last year's."

"Yeah, of course..." Riko was surprised. She did not expect to be offered to film more reviews with Akashi. "But are you sure? You have to wait until months later."

Akashi smiled. "Of course. I don't mind waiting at all. We can talk about it after you've finished your exam, but for now, let's just enjoy the game, shall we?"

Riko nodded. "Who do you think will win? Kaijo or Shutoku? "

"I must say I do not know. "

Riko silently said "BS" on the inside. No way that she was going to believe that, knowing the young man standing next to her possessed eyes which were sharper than hers.

"It is the truth," Akashi explained himself, as if hearing her internal thoughts on him. "both teams are strong and possessed incredible players. Anything could happen. I used to think that I could always predict the outcome, but Seirin have taught me otherwise._ Aida-san, you_ have taught me otherwise."

Riko felt a bit bad for assuming Akashi was giving her BS and felt happy and proud for his sudden praise. For a moment, she was lost for words.

But Akashi suddenly touched her elbow. She looked up to meet his gentle eyes, and somehow got his silent message. _It's ok. You don't have to say anything._ And they watched the game unfolded below them together in comfortable silence.

* * *

20 minutes ago.

Akashi led Rakuzan to the auditorium. They were going to watch the Shutoku vs. Kaijo match.

Until Akashi spotted a certain brunette among the crowd. He almost didn't recognize her as she seemed incredibly tiny among the passing athletes. Akashi stopped on his tracks, which caused raised questions among Rakuzan.

"Sei-chan? What's wrong?" Mibuchi immediately asked, already by his captain's side.

"Excuse me," Akashi turned and looked at his teammates. "there is someone I have to greet. Go ahead, I will catch up with you." He looked at his vice captain.

Mibuchi got his cue and ushered the confused players inside. Before they were out of sight, Mibuchi turned and gave him a knowing wink.

Akashi smiled, and followed the way which Riko had taken.

He scanned the crowd, but he didn't see her among the seats. Finally, he saw her standing behind a pillar in the far back-with Imayoshi Shoichi standing next to her.

He frowned and made his way towards them. He didn't know that Riko was well-acquainted with the former captain of Too.

As he approached closer, he realized that Riko's back was straighter and more rigid than she normally was. He listened to their conversation for a minute silently before making his entrance.

Both of them were startled, but he was secretly pleased when he saw Riko relaxed almost immediately upon seeing him. He was pleased even more when the current captain of Too yelled at the top of his lungs and forced Imayoshi to leave.

Riko asked him if he really asked him if he really had something to discuss with her or if he was just rescuing her. _How adorable._

Little did she know that he did love talking to her, but rescuing her would always come first. Akashi couldn't help but smiled.

He proposed to film more review videos with her after her exam. Her attitude towards him had greatly improved already, but he still had to shorten the distance between them. Akashi was never passive when it comes to arrying out his plans. She was surprised, but she agreed, just like what he expected.

He would make her get used to him before she knew it. Even if she did, she would realize that she won't be able to fall for anyone else, because they were perfect together.

* * *

Rakuzan won the winter cup this year, and Too got second place. Kaijo got third, and Shutoku got fourth. They played intense games, though Riko didn't see them all, she planned to watch it on tape after her exam.

Riko spent the rest of her third-year studying and passing on her work at the student council to the kouhais. She would still see her dad everyday, and the management of Seirin was going to employ her father to be a PE teacher, so she had little worries regarding the basketball club.

The day before the college entrance exam, Kiyoshi returned from the US.

Riko and the third years stood at the gym gate and watched the second and first years practice. Furihata was timid when he was by himself, but he was remarkably braver when entrusted with responsibility. He was leading Seirin's practice, with her dad helping them out, they have adjusted themselves well. Upon seeing that they were doing just fine, they were relieved.

After the exam, all the high schools went on winter vacations, and Riko graduated with the third-years. The second and first years almost cried at the ceremony, and they bought flowers for each of them. Riko felt like crying herself, but after seeing a bunch of basketball idiots crying their hearts out, the urge had died down. Riko gently slapped them. "Baka! We'd still see each other! Stop crying!"

Seirin took one last photo of them under a sakura tree. The entire family wearing the same uniform for the last time.

* * *

During the winter vacation, Akashi had came back to Tokyo and they met up a lot to discuss the script for their review videos. Sometimes, they would meet up at Seirin, and Akashi would play basketball with the Seirin boys afterwards. Word got out, and Momoi and Aomine would show up as well, as well as Midorima and Takao. Eventually, their meetings often turned into mini basketball matches.

Weeks later, Riko got her test scores-which was just like what Imayoshi predicted. She would definitely get into Tokyo Uni.

She sighed. Riko didn't want to participate in any more basketball clubs. She did everything for Seirin because they had treated her with respect. But then she had respected the players as well. She didn't want to do anything for anyone other than Seirin. After three years, she decided that it was time to do the things she liked and not care a damn about the basketball idiots.

That being said, Riko realized that she really enjoyed filming review videos with Akashi. He was a perfect partner, leading the conversation perfectly and let her comment on the game with little trouble, and adding a few additions if needed. And Riko found talking to the young man interesting. He could easily follow her thoughts and provide enlightening feedback. She was surprised at herself for changing the opinion on the redhead so quickly, but it was difficult not to like the guy.

* * *

For Kuroko, Akashi and Hyuga were both amazing captains, and Kuroko respected both of them very much. But both of them were in love with his coach.

The only person at Seirin who didn't know that Hyuga was in love with Coach was Kagami. Everyone was hinting at Hyuga to confess his feelings sooner than later, but their captain ignored them again and again.

Kuroko knew it would be the exact reason why Hyuga would never be able to be with Coach. His captain was too scared of failure to make the first step towards Coach. Everyone thought Coach had no idea, but Kuroko knew she had been waiting him to make the first move.

But now they've already graduated. His coach would most likely go to University of Tokyo, but it was impossible for Hyuga to follow her. However, next year, Akashi would definitely be accepted in Tokyo Uni with little trouble.

Kuroko had given a lot of thought about it: Whether he should support and help Akashi pursue his coach. Kuroko knew his coach has high walls around her, even for Akashi, they were difficult to break through. He thought had some responsibility in that-he had shared his story in Teiko, which resulted in his coach's deep distrust and dislike towards Akashi.

Even though Akashi had went back to his old self after the Winter Cup, her opinion of his former captain had not changed.

Kuroko knew this because when she and the other senpais arrived at Kagami's apartment to celebrate his birthday, her smiling face crumbled when she saw Akashi present. She hid her expressions quickly, but Kuroko was too good at observing people.

He did not see Akashi and his coach speak that day, so they weren't even aquianted yet, but Kuroko suspected that coach was already on Akashi' s mind then.

But the feeling was not mutual, and Akashi would need to spend extra time and effort just to make Coach trust him.

Doing the review videos together was merely an excuse for Akashi to spend time with her and make her realize how much they think alike.

Kuroko had a feeling that Coach would be taken by Akashi way before his captain realized it.

* * *

**Author's notes:**

All the twitter handles are fake, obviously.

SatsukiMomoi0504: Momoi's birthday is May 4th.

Reonee_love: Reo-nee means "sister Reo" and I added "love" just to make it cute.

Vanilla_shakes_16: Kuroko's favorite drink and 16 was his jersey number back in Teiko when he was a third-stringer. Neigou now wears Seirin's number 16 jersey.

As for why did Seirin lose to Kaijo: Their only managed to beat Kaijo last year because Kise's injury and he lost too much strength. In the end, even Kagami himself didn't stop Kise. They had to do it together, but Kaijo won't fall for the same trick again. Without Kiyoshi, I don't think Seirin could beat them again.

They lost by 7 points. Does anyone care to guess why "7" points in particular?

And besides, the basketball games aren't the point. The point is Riko and Akashi's relationship development. ;)

* * *

TBC and big thanks to those who reads and reviews. You really don't know how much reviews mean to authors until you publish something yourself.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

After being admitted into Tokyo Uni, Riko relaxed for the first time in months. Free of anxiety, she spent almost all of her time filming the review videos with Akashi and helping her dad train Seirin during their winter training camp. She loved what she was doing now, and everything seemed perfect.

She spent all her time doing what she loved, not doing anything for anyone except for herself.

Akashi and met a lot to discuss the review videos, but they also talked about other things and got to know each other more. Riko was glad she did, because she used to spend all her time with the boys from Seirin, and she was truly fond of them, but other than Kiyoshi, they're just ordinary stupid teenage boys. But Akashi was far from ordinary. His well-mannered speech itself showed the depth of his knowledge, which was always pleasant for Riko whenever they talked. She was glad they were having these conversations.

During the winter vacation, Seirin held another "basketball classroom", a teaching program for kids, along with regulars from Kaijo, Shutoku and Too. A lot of people volunteered, even those who have graduated showed up as well. Murasakibara and Himuro had came to Tokyo during the vacation as well, and Kagami was happy to see his brother. Akashi was already in Tokyo, and he showed up at Seirin like he had lately. They gathered at Seirin and painted the posters together, and passed them out later.

During the process, Riko saw a lot of familiar faces-players a year older than her, among them are Imayoshi and Miyaji from Shutoku. Both of them attend Tokyo Uni and play on the school basketball team, making them her senpai, so she greeted them out of politeness.

Riko was friendly with Miyaji, they were already acquainted while painting Graffiti at the street court and from last year's basketball classroom, but she wasn't exactly fond of the former Too captain. She heard that Imayoshi was already the captain of the school team, and she had a feeling that he was rather serious about recruiting her to be a manager, something she has no intention of doing anymore.

Imayoshi and Miyaji both greeted her back and gathered around her. The trio didn't stood out among the crowd, but some still stopped what they were doing and starred, curious of what they were going to talk about.

"Aida-san, it's been a while!" Miyaji cheerfully said. "Oh, I watched all your review videos! With you as the coach, no wonder Seirin is so impressive!"

Riko smiled, but before she could say 'thank you', Imayoshi cut in.

"Now that you're retired, are you sure you don't want to continue to do what you excel at? Are you really gonna give it all up?"

"He's right, Aida-san! With your abilities, Imayoshi can even arrange for you to skip the interviews and tryouts for normal people." Miyaji encouraged her. "The school team of Tokyo Uni is really good, it will be totally worth your while!"

"Thank you for your appreciation and faith, Miyaji-san, Imayoshi-san. But I realize that I have given all of time to help others achieve their dreams, allowing them to do what they like. But I only want to do what I like in college for the next four years. Sorry for turning down your offer."

"Oh, don't sweat about it. It is your right to do whatever you want!" Miyaji assured her. "But what club do you want to join if you're not joining the basketball club?"

"I have no idea yet...but I think I'll still be doing the review videos and analyzing games, even though I'm not in the basketball club. "

"That's good to hear." Imayoshi sighed dramatically. "Though it's a pity that you really are determined not to become a manager."

"But the review videos serve the same purpose! You know, my brother, the current captain of Shutoku,"Miyaji said while pointing to a teen who looked a lot like him "makes the Shutoku players watch every single of your review video." Miyaji said.

"Heh?! Why?"

"Becuase it's highly constructive and educational, of course!" Miyaji explained matter-of-factly. "You explained a lot of things that sometimes players wouldn't notice on the court, and if they did, it could change the outcome of the game!"

"Ha ha, thank you... but even if you say nice things to me, I'm still not gonna be the manager."

"I know that! Just take the damn compliment!" Miyaji exclaimed as Riko giggled.

"Thank you, the both of you." Riko said to the two upperclassmen. "I was merely doing what I liked, but it's nice to know someone appreciates the review videos. "

* * *

After the brief exchange between the three of them, Riko sat on the bench beside the court and watched the all players taught the kids what they're good at. Some of the boys from Seirin were awkward and shy at first, but after a while, they all became good basketball instructors and actively helped the kids who struggled. By teaching the kids, the boys themselves became experts in postures. Because in order to help the kids adjust their posture, they had to observe and discover the problem before giving them advice.

Aside from that, everyone had a great time. Some of the taller players such as Kiyoshi and Murasakibara let kids sit on their shoulders and let them dunk the ball in. Midorima, Himuro and Hyuga were teaching the kids how to shoot. Kagami, Kise and Aomine being the hotheads they were, already started to show off their basketball styles, and amazed the young boys with flashy moves. The others players from Seirin, Too and Kaijo sighed at their aces' childish behavior and helped out the other kids.

"May I join you?" a familiar voice asked her.

Recognizing the owner of the voice, Riko did not need to turn to see who it was. "Of course, Akashi-kun."

The red teen sat down beside her and offered her a sports drink. "Thank you for inviting me today, Aida-san, this was very fun."

"No problem. I'm glad that you helped us out as well. A lot of kids showed up this year, and we could use more a lot more players to teach the kids."

"Speaking of which, Aida-san, did you came up with the idea of teaching kids basketball?"

"Yeah, sort-of, but a lot of people helped carried out the plan last year, and old and new faces showed up to help this year." Riko said while gesturing to the crowd on the court. "But who knew _they_ are quite well at teaching children."

Akashi immediately knew who she was referring to specifically. "I think they all like children a lot. Although Amoine and Midorima weren't really good with little kids."

Riko turned to see Amoine and a boy high-fiving happily after the kid made a shot while Midorima scooted down to teach another boy how to shoot a 3-pointer. "I don't know, they seem alright to me."

"When we were in Teiko, we had training camps during vacations and we stayed in a hotel in the countryside together. " Akashi started to tell his story. "There weren't a lot of streetlights, so it was very dark after sunset. One night, the kids were still playing outside despite of the dark, until they saw a tall , scary-looking, dark man emerging from the shadows out of nowhere. And they were terrified and started to cry so loud that everyone knew what happened. The end."

Riko could barely contain her laughter. "Is this the part where I pretend to guess who this 'tall , scary-looking, dark man' is?"

The corners of Akashi's mouth turned upward as well. "Since then, I think Aomine has been unconsciously dodging children, especially at night."

It took RIko a minute to catch her breath after laughing too hard. "I think this is the funniest thing I've heard in a while."

"Is it?" Akashi asked quietly, which made Riko turn to look at him. He went silent all of a sudden.

"Akashi-kun?"

"Forgive me if I'm overstepping my bounds, Aida-san, but I have notice you weren't quite yourself lately."

Riko stilled for a second and shifted uncomfortably. "...What do you mean?"

Akashi suddenly grabbed her elbow gently, stopping her from moving away. "I only want to make sure you're alright, Aida-san."

Riko starred back at the teen. The latter looked back at her with warm, concerning eyes. She suddenly realized that she did trust him.

All the time she had spent with Akashi, he was always polite and thoughtful, and to be honest with herself, she already considered him a good friend.

"If you're certain that you want to hear about my problems, perhaps we can talk later? Just...not right now?"

Akashi seemed pleased with the conclusion she came to. "Of course, I'd be honored to."

After their short conversation, Akashi was called over by other players who were in need of his aid.

At the end of the day, Riko overheard the boys talking about making the basketball-teaching program a tradition for the juniors to hold. During the winter vacation, the players from Seirin, Too, Shutoku would hold the basketball program as they were in Tokyo, and the those from other schools were more than welcome to pitch in their help. The captains from respective schools had already came to an understanding to this.

Riko was happy and proud-she remembered how bad were when the GOM dominated the basketball world years ago, and how all the rest of the players lost their passion and love for basketball. But now, everyone was doing what they loved, and was passing on their skills and knowledge to kids-the future, and being friends outside the court. Part of her was surprised because the GOM were normally that how patient they were when teaching kids. Things were so different now, Riko felt privileged to witness all of it: how people got hurt but got up again from the bottom and rose, how people made mistakes and hurt people but reconciled, how they became friends and rivals at the same time.

* * *

A few days later, it was the start of Riko's college life.

She was the only one in Seirin who made it into the top university in Japan. No one she knew was going to the same school with her, and she'd be lying if she said she didn't mind it at all.

Going to college was a new phase in her life, and apparently she had to do it alone. She has to face a new environment, meet new people, and the work from school would not be easy, and she could already feel the uncertainty and creeping in.

What surprised her was that somehow Akashi noticed her low mood, and consoled her.

She confided it to him over the phone, and when she was done talking, Akashi only told her one thing:"I think there's nothing for you to worry about, Aida-san, because you are capable of doing anything you want to."

Coming from Akashi, words really meant something because he was not the flattering type. She didn't expect him to think so highly of her, and his words were more comforting than she imagined it should be.

Riko wanted to help her father run the family business, so she decided to study management in Tokyo Uni's Economic department, and took some sports-managing classes in her free time. Having so much on her plate would definitely be tough, but she was now certain that she would pull it off, just like she always has.

After moving into her dorm, Riko attended the opening ceremony and the club fair. She found the gaming club, and was recruited by enthusiastic upperclassmen immediately.

"We don't have a lot of female members, so excuse the guys if they're being a bit too excited." the director of the gaming club explained to her while the other members gawked at her from a distance. "We gather once a week, and you can play whatever game you want during the session. You can even bring friends over and play board games."

"There really isn't a lot of rules, is there?" Riko smiled.

"No, no, there isn't." The director laughed. "Playing video games is just for fun. You can also join other clubs if you like, as long as you show up once a week."

Riko's heart tightened at this. She was so used to being busy with the basketball club and thinking about it almost all the time. She wasn't used to having so much free time to do whatever she wanted. It felt unfamiliar and strange, but she was glad that she had that freedom and control now.

"Oh, and if you have any problems in math or physics...you can always come to us." The director suddenly added and laughed self-mockingly. "We're the typical combination of dorks and geeks. Calculus is just a piece of cake to most of our members."

"...Thanks, that's very thoughtful." Riko said, not sure whether to agree or disagree with the director's comment about them being dork-ish geeks.

Riko decided that leaving was parted ways with the members of the gaming club, she saw the basketball school team at their booth, recruiting young blood. She starred at them and reminisced how she and the Seirin boys recruited the freshmen years ago until someone startled her.

"Changed your mind and decided to join us after all?"

"...Not really, Imayoshi senpai." Riko turned to face the smiley upperclassman. Imayoshi was now the captain of school team, even though he was only in his sophomore year. "I think I'm going to limit my basketball-related activities to making review videos."

"Speaking of which, now that you can't film those with Akashi, are you going to film them alone now?"

"Ugh, I don't know," Riko sighed, remembering after the vacation, the redhead captain has gone back to Kyoto, making it impossible for them meet up like they used to. "hopefully I'll find someone who's willing to."

"I am," Miyaji said, approaching the two of them.

"Miyaji senpai! Are you serious?" Riko turned to face the tall upperclassman.

"Of course! It's always a pleasure to help out a nice kouhai like you, right, Imayoshi?"

"Haha, I suppose doing a review would be fun." Imayoshi said thoughtfully.

"Thank you so much, you really saved me a lot of trouble."

Miyaji waved a hand. "You're welcome. Though Imayoshi and I have to go now, the head coach is looking for him."

"Oh, see you then, Miyaji senpai. Imayoshi senpai."

They parted ways, and Riko watched as her two senpai walked away. They used to play on different teams, and though they are in the same school now, they didn't have the same major. But basketball had brought them together. And she was lucky to have them helping her out as well. They didn't have to, but they did anyway.

Riko went back to her dorm, and as she lay on her bed, she felt a sense of belong and relaxed.

* * *

The two upperclassman lived up to their word and filmed a review video of a match between Tokyo Uni and another college.

They got to know each other better, sometimes, they would even meet up and have lunch together at the cafeteria, which was difficult because they all studied in different departments. Imayoshi was studying psychology, Miyaji majored in bio-engineering while she studied business management. But they were still glad they went out of their way to meet. It was nice to have people to talk to.

But as Riko uploaded more and more review videos online, while they received a lot of positive reviews among basketball players, hate comments emerged as well. Most of it was sexism, of which Riko was used to. A lot of people didn't think a female would be a good basketball coach. She never cared what the haters thought, because she knew Seirin trusted her abilities, and they were the only ones she cared about. Usually she ignored those comments and continued with her life.

Until one day, a comment on a previous video she made with Akashi made the comment section explode.

_"I really don't get why everyone's fussing about these review vids. Let's not forget how Rakuzan lost to Seirin, a nobody team with no descent coach by "one" point. Hello? One point? How convenient! And now__ they are filming these review vids together like a damn couple and no one thinks there's no ''deal' between them?! WAKE THE HELL UP_ "

After Riko reading the comment, she could barely contain her laughter-she really found it hilarious. First, someone dug the old news from 2 years ago and decided that now was finally a good time to attack. Second, someone actually thought that she and Akashi are a couple, so they made a deal and Rakuzan let Seirin win the Winter Cup by one point. The idea was so absurd that Riko didn't even know where to start to retort back.

She scrolled down to see the replies, and it was like a war zone already. Lots and lots of people were very vocal, such as suggesting that whoever commented must've hit his head really bad to write something so stupid. A few rational people left long arguments, one in particular caught her eye._ "Seirin is a newly-founded school, yet they are undeniably strong. They have beaten all their opponents to get to where they were, and it was not because of pure luck or cheating. Failing to see their strength is the best evidence of your own ignorance, and suggesting that Seirin had won because of some none-existent shady deal is not only absurd and disrespectful-to Seirin, Rakuzan, and all the players that both schools have played against. I suggest you check your own conscience or IQ before posting something so twisted on the Internet." _which got plenty of likes.

Riko was glad that the majority were sane, but she was still concerned about what Akashi would think. He had been doing her a massive favor, doing the reviews with her and let her promote Seirin. Yet now he and Rakuzan was getting hate and shade for it. Riko sighed. They had just begun to become friends, and she really didn't want to lose their relationship over something so absurd and hateful.

* * *

Akashi sat behind his desk and started at his computer in silence. He knew there were ignorant people who attacked Riko of her young age and gender, but he knew she would never be affected by them.

But this was outrageous.

To Akashi, the only truth in that comment was the part where he or she thought he and Riko were together. But suggesting that Seirin only won was because of some shady deal between them was a huge diss to both Rakuzan and Seirin's players. Anyone with eyes could see how strong Seirin were, and what they did to win. Suggesting otherwise was a huge disgrace to everyone's efforts, including Riko's.

It wasn't written by any random troll. The comment scorned Seirin, but mostly it was targeted at Rakuzan's basketball club, suggesting that they have deliberately let Seirin win.

First, anyone who had followed the high school basketball matches knew what had happened during the match, how both teams had given everything. There was no way Rakuzan lost from holding back, even implying it seemed ridiculous and ignorant. Which suggests that whoever wrote this comment held a grudge against Rakuzan's basketball team yet did not watch the match, and only wrote that comment based on the result, not the process.

Which considerably narrowed down the suspect pool for Akashi. He picked up his phone and called one of his classmates. It just so happens that particular classmate was proficient in hacking people's social accounts and tracing them.

Akashi had zero intention of forgiving the person wrote that comment.

A few moments later, Akashi received the confirmation just when he received a call from Mibuchi, who sounded distressed and outrageous at the same time.

"Sei-chan! Have you seen the comment on-"

"-I have, Mibuchi, relax." Akashi assured him. "And I have found who was responsible."

There was a silence before Mibuchi replied. "Already? Oh, never mind, who was it?"

"Sato Yuuto. The director of Rakuzan's volley ball club."

"...Why...why the hell would the volley ball club-? I thought it was some basketball team who had lost to us before." Mibuchi stuttered, unable to comprehend why on earth would director of _the volleyball club _would be the person behind that hateful comment.

"It's a long story. But don't worry, I will handle him." Akashi sighed.

"Let me help you," Mibuchi immediately offered, "I don't know what the director of the volleyball club has against us, but dragging Seirin and Aida-san into a war is just disgraceful. I want to teach him a lesson, too."

"I see," Akashi smiled coldly. "in that case, I would be grateful to have your help."

* * *

**Author's notes:**

Thank you to all the readers, especially Cherylicious5. Thank you for the support and the feedback.

By the way, I also posted this story on Wattpad, and you can also follow this story on Wattpad as well. My user name is also kellyh000

**As for the basketball classroom**:it happened in one of the ending stories. If you don't know what I'm talking about, here's a summary: Too and Seirin (Kagami vs. Aomine) were playing at a street court while kids looked interested in their match. Seirin decided to hold a basketball classroom for kids. And word got out, the regulars from Too, Shutoku and Kaijo all showed up and helped. Google the ED pics and how see players interacted with the kids. It was a very adorable moment.

Personally, I like Miyaji a lot. Mostly it's because of his good looks (lol), but also because despite his strict and harsh attitude, he is a caring senpai. He would definitely watch out for Riko as she is now his kouhai in the University. Note that he is only harsh towards himself and the underclassmen on the basketball team, but I think he would have a friendly relationship with Riko.

As for Imayoshi, he is the captain of the school team, so he has to recruit talented people, sometimes manipulating to achieve that goal (example: recruiting Aomine), but Riko isn't buying it as she is determined to do what she likes. Not that she doesn't enjoy coaching, she just doesn't want to coach or pour that kind of amount of effort for anyone other Seirin.

And the red king is mad that some troll decided that it was a good idea to diss his queen and Rakuzan.

* * *

TBC and please review;)


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

After graduating from Rakuzan, Mibuchi went to Kyoto University, which made it convenient for him whenever he wanted to go back to his high school and visit his favorite captain. Or to get the front-row seat to watch Akashi _handle_ people.

Two years ago, it would be impossible for Mibuchi to even _imagine_ to be so close with Akashi. He was always fond of and respected his captain, but he knew that Akashi didn't return his affection. But after that year's winter cup, everything changed.

Akashi was still stern, but was no longer harsh or mean. Instead, he became very nice. He started to encourage the team more during practices to boost team morale. He valued teamwork much more and started to pass the ball to his teammates. It was nice to be trusted and be relied on. They would have dinner after practices or on weekends together, which was something they never did.

Mibuchi finally felt that they were closer than teammates now. They were good friends that had each others' backs. Which meant that it was his turn to support his captain.

Back when Akashi was his old-self, he noticed that Akashi had paid much attention to Seirin, specifically to Kuroko and the coach, Aida Riko. He had taken the responsibility of helping his captain pursue his love upon himself. As for Aida Riko wasn't on their team and technically an enemy, Mibuchi had chose to overlook that fact.

So there he was, sitting in Akashi's private office at Rukazan's student council, ready to see Akashi handle whoever had the nerve to drag Serin and Aida into this mess.

"I have to apologize in advance for whatever mess you have to see later." The redhead said quitely.

Mibuchi grinned evily. "None-sense. I'd love to see you mop the floor with those morons."

Akashi raised an eyebrow slightly in amusement before put his serious face on all of a sudden. "There he is."

Then Mibuchi heard loud steps marching closer from a distance, and about ten seconds later, the door of Akashi's private office was opened and Sato Yuuto stormed in while cursing, and just when he was about to slam the door shut, Akashi spoke up with authority that could sent chills down right to the spine. "If my door is damaged in any way, Sato, you _will_ be held responsible for it."

Akashi didn't even have to raise his voice. He merely starred at Sato until the latter visibly flinched as he regained some sense and realized that throwing a tantrum in front of Akashi would do him no good.

Mibuchi suggested. "Why don't you close the door so you won't humiliate yourself in front of a crowd?"

Sato turned to glare at Mibuci, but didn't say anything.

"Unless you preferred an audience to watch you throw a tantrum?" Mibuchi asked mockingly.

"This is none of your business, Mibuchi-senpai. And aren't you already graduated?" Sato retorted with distain, implying that Mibuchi shouldn't be here.

"_You_ are the one who stormed in here, Sato. No one invited you." Akashi intervened.

"Yeah, if you don't want me to storm in your little office, maybe you shouldn't have cut half of the volleyball club's budget."

"Well, maybe if you haven't dragged Seirin into such a mess, maybe your budge wouldn't be cut at all." Akashi said indifferently, as it cutting 50% of the volleyclub's budget was nothing._ That is what you get for messing with Sei-chan,_ Mibuchi thought to himself.

Sato's eyes widened in surprise, and then he hissed at Akashi. "So you found out it was me. And this is your way of getting back at me? For exposing your dirty little secret?"

Akashi's cold smile never wavered. "You are not as smart as you thought, Sato. You really shouldn't have used the Rakuzan's wifi and your cellphone to post that ridiculous comment."

"_Ridiculous? Is it?_" Sato questioned. His eyes was filled with contempt and hatred for Akashi. "Two years ago, you lost by one-point to a nobody team and only got the second. And then the next year, you somehow managed to win national champ with no trouble while somehow last years' champ, Seirin lost way too easily. I suppose that what you get for cheating."

"Careful of your next words, Sato. Don't throw accusations that you couldn't prove." Mibuchi warned.

"I don't have to prove a thing. You know what pisses me off the most?" Sato spat. "Even though you lost, the school still passed whatever budget you demanded just because you have the student council in your pocket, so you get to keep all your money. But us? The school doesn't give a damn about other clubs, and if we lose, so goes our budget. How the hell is that fair?!"

"I am cutting your budget because you don't deserve it, Sato. I personally have vetted the budget the volleyball club demanded." Akashi lowered his gaze and pulled a file out from one of the piles on his desk. He slid it across the desk to let Sato see for himself. "A lot of the budget you submitted is unnecessary-do you take the student council as a fool? Did you think that we would pass whatever budget you asked?"

Sato picked up the file and saw it was the volleyball club's budget spread sheet. Almost half of it was crossed out. Sato's voice shook with rage and pointed to one of the items that was crossed out. "_Unnecessary?_ Why the hell is 'buying training supplies' unnecessary?"

"It isn't, if you really used the money on buying training supplies. I verified with the supplier you listed. They said you never placed an order to buy any equipment."

Sato paled visibly.

"You have some nerve to steal money from the school, Sato." Akashi didn't bother to hide the overwhelming demeanor that had terrified his opponents on the court. "The basketball club gets to keep our budge is because we trained even harder than we did before, so we deserve the money, unlike you."

Akashi put a hand on Sato's shoulder. He didn't use any real force, but Sato felt that somehow, his legs would buckle at any second. "No one would believe your little theories because they are not true. Everything you said was just because you were jealous that we got to keep the money, while the volleyclub's budget got cut. Let me be clear: your budget got cut _last year_ was because you did not put as much effort in training as we did. So you decided to sabotage me and Seirin's reputation and steal money to meet the balance, and that is the reason why your budget got cut 50% _this year_."

Mibuchi looked at Sato. He wanted to chime in but Akashi was already 'handling' him and Sato was truly scared.

"You have deliberately attacked your fellow students and insulted an innocent person and her school, which showed nothing but ignorance, spite and evil. I truly worry for the future of the volleyball club under your leadership, and as the president of the student council, I'm afraid must choose the greater good. I expect the volleyball club to elect a new captain before Friday, otherwise I will make whoever I deem fit the captain." Sato was dripping sweat, and he still tried to open his mouth to protest, but Akashi beat him to it. "You're dismissed." he said with a finality that indicated the future for him was sealed.

Mibuchi watched Sato leave the the office as if his soul was being ripped apart. He would never be punished so severely had he not created such a mess. Mibuchi did not pity him at all, the guy got what he deserved. "He probably never thought that you would actually double-check every single item they submitted. But it was still smart-no one would ask questions about a sports club's new equipment budget."

Akashi gave his former teammate a sad smile. He had taken care of his enemy, but he still has a war to win.

A war much harder, a war with his love.

* * *

Before leaving, Mibuchi sighed. "Sei-chan, are you going to call Aida-san and tell her that you have handled the situation? "

"I know. She doesn't deserve to be dragged into all this chaos. Hope this will bring her some sort of solace." Akashi said quietly.

The two exchanged a goodbye, and Akashi went back to his office.

He was fairly certain that Aida Riko would not be angry at him, but he still had to make sure that she wouldn't be scared away.

But he could not just blurt out and tell her that he would never cut ties with her no matter what. Declaring his feelings and making promises was too soon, and she might just get even more uncomfortable. But he ached to tell her how he really felt about her, to assure her that no one could ever get in between them, so she would never be distraught over someone or something so trivial ever again. He wanted to take her fear or anxiety away so bad.

Akashi dialed her number and told himself to calm down and not to say anything that he would regret in the heat of rush before speaking.

* * *

Riko received a call from someone she had been expecting for a while. She knew Akashi being the know-it-all he was, he would not ignore that comment, what she didn't know is what he would do afterwards.

"Aida-san." Akashi sounded so uncertain and unease at the other end. "Is this a bad time?"

Riko closed her eyes and tightened her hold on her phone. "No. Is something wrong?"

"I'm afraid so, Aida-san. I presume you already know about a certain comment on the last video we made."

_So this is it._ Riko paused for a second before replying, trying to find her words, and Akashi waited patiently. "Yes, I am aware."

"The comment was a direct attack to the both of us and our schools, and it felt personal, so I pulled some strings and found out that the person of interest was the captain of the volleyball club." Akashi went on and explained the rest.

Riko listened to him intently and realized that Akashi did not blame her at all, instead, she got the impression that Akashi was afraid that she might be angry. "I understand. So...what do we do now?"

"Nothing. Everything will be back to normal." Akashi assured her.

_That's good to hear, I like normal. _Riko thought.

"Actually, I still wanted to apologize to you in person. I was wondering if you're free this weekend?"

"It's ok, you have nothing to apologize for! It was not your fault that Sato guy posted that comment!" Riko was shocked. Akashi took his way more seriously in a way which she did not anticipate.

"Then just take it as a casual meeting between friends. I planned to visit Tokyo Uni this weekend anyway. I'm applying for it next year, and it would be nice if I had a guide...Aida-san, would you do me the honor?"

Riko smiled. "I'd love to."

They ended the call and Riko lay on her bed smiling. Things turned out much better than she hoped for.

Akashi found the person responsible, did not blame her or cut ties with her, and they got to keep their friendship.

Riko found herself looking forward to the weekends and she started to hum softly for no reason.

* * *

The next day, Riko was about to leave for lunch after class when she saw Miyaji standing outside her classroom.

"Miyaji senpai?"

"You're difficult to ambush, you know?" Miyaji sighed dramatically. "I have been looking for you for two days."

Riko smiled shyly. She preferred to keep a low-profile, but she didn't expect it would cause so much trouble for him. "Why did you want to see me, senpai?"

"Come on, I'll buy you lunch." The upperclassman didn't give her a direct answer, but she still followed him.

The both of them walked to the cafeteria together and found a table after getting their food.

"Not that I'm not grateful of you buying my lunch, but could you please just tell me what this is all about?" Riko asked.

"Just checking up on you, see if you're alright." Miyaji said as they sat down and turned his full attention to her. He starred at her face for a few seconds before nodding in satisfaction. "You look alright."

Riko gave him a confused look. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Oh, come on. That BS comment?"

"Oh, that."

"_Oh, that? _Really, I'm glad that you didn't take that trash seriously, but you really should give it more thought. That f****** son of a b**** better hope that I'll find him 'cuz if I do, I will beat that piece of s*** up so bad that his mom will not recognize him."

The upperclassman spat out a string of curse words with a flow that made Riko lost it and started to laugh.

"Don't laugh, damn it, I'm f****** serious! That comment is an attack directly at you and Rakuzan, it is f****** personal and don't tell me you didn't realize it. "

"I know, I know, it's just...you're oddly adorable when you're swearing, senpai."

Miyaji huffed and rolled his eyes at the same time. "Don't try to change the subject!"

"Alright! Senpai, I do appreciate the concern and the offer to commit first-degree assault for me, but I'm afraid that your service is not required. Akashi-kun has covered that for me. "

"Akashi?" Miyaji calmed down at once when he heard the name. "How? Did he find out who it was? What did he do?"

Riko explained the whole situation to Miyaji, about how Akashi caught the volleyball club stealing money from the school, and finally to how he had 'removed' Sato from his position, and the phone call between her and Akashi.

"That's pretty much it, I suppose. That Sato was spiteful and eager to attack, and payback has been done. The end." RIko concluded.

Miyaji remained silent while she told him what story. He was so intense and serious that made Riko want to laugh and sigh at the same time. "I'm fine, senpai, I swear."

"It's not that. It's something else I wanted to talk to you about."

"What?"

"Look, I'm not the gossiping type, but...are the two of you involved? Romantically, I mean?"

Riko was slightly startled. "Where the hell did that come from?"

"It's totally alright if the two of you are really dating, it's not like I would tell anyone."

Riko immediately countered. "That is hardly the point, Miyaji-senpai. Why would you think that me and Akashi are a couple?"

"He seemed pretty worried about what you might think. Perhaps it's because he doesn't want a hater to get in the way."

"What?"

"You and Seirin were attacked partly because of him, and maybe he doesn't want you to be scared away because you were close to him and would possibly bring you harm. So, obviously, Akashi wanted to maintain your relationship a lot-I assumed that it was out of love."

Riko was about to dismiss Miyaji when her mind suddenly flashed back to how they really made their acquaintance-on a cold night where Akashi had showed her nothing but kindness and offered his jacket and a hot drink to her, and how he accepted her request to film a review video which had benefited Seirin and her PR, and how they became friends easily because of his respect and gentleness towards her.

Riko realized that it was completely possible that Akashi was interested in her. Romantically, not just friendly. _God, I'm slow._

Miyaji saw Riko's face went blank. He realized that he might have just dropped a bombshell on her and she was still trying to process all the information he just said. "Look," Miyaji tried to ease her mind. "I just think that maybe Akashi has some feelings towards you, but maybe he doesn't! It doesn't matter right now, let's have lunch first, ok? You're noodles are getting cold, and it's not like you have to make a decision anytime soon, right?"

_No, senpai,_ Riko thought as she absent-mindedly picked her chopsticks up_, I am going to see him very, very soon, and how the hell am I going to face him now? _

Miyaji and her didn't have further conversation during their meal, but Riko couldn't concentrate on her food or swallowing as her heart was filled with wild guesses and questions that scared the hell out of her.

* * *

During the weekend, Akashi took the train and went back to Tokyo.

He told the others that he was going to visit the University of Tokyo, the school he was going to apply for next year, but the truth was he was mainly going there to see Riko.

He had to be sure that she wasn't scared by the incident, and she wouldn't become estranged from him. He had made up his mind to spend his life with her, and he knew it wouldn't be easy for her. Akashi knew he has his fair share of admirers and enemies, and he intended to keep her safe, but he still had to make sure that Riko herself was strong enough.

Because of his intense training, Akashi had a very healthy body and a low heart rate, but on his way to see Riko, Akashi realized that he couldn't calm his accelerating heartbeat.

When he finally reached his destination, a cafe near the Tokyo Uni campus and saw Riko sitting in a booth, waiting for him, Akashi felt an overwhelming sense of relief.

He made his way towards her, and Riko sensed his approach and looked up. Akashi saw several emotions-a combination of confusion and anxiety flashed through her eyes before she hid them quickly. His heart sank and sat down quickly. "Sorry to keep you waiting, Aida-san, is everything alright?"

Aida Riko looked at his face for a moment as if to decide whether she would tell him the truth or not."No, but I'm fine."

Akashi chose not to press the topic at the moment, and change the subject instead. He handed her the gift bag to her.

"What's this?" Riko asked and looked at him in confusion.

"Mocha chocolate, consider it my apology for the inconvinence I caused. Please don't reject, it's merely a small gift and I would feel a lot better if you would do me the honor and accept it. " Akashi rushed before Riko could protest.

But much to Akashi's surprise, Riko didn't protest. In fact, Riko had no reaction at all. She took the beautifully and delicately wrapped box out from the bag and touched the ribbon on it. It was rare for Akashi, but he could not predict or analyze the current situation.

_What is she thinking? Why is she acting like this? Was it a bad idea to give her Mocha chocolate? Does she hate Mocha? Does she hate chocolate? Does she hate me- _the more questions and possibilities raced through Akashi's mind, and the more anxious he got. Akashi was never uncertain or nervous, but he felt like he was walking on thin ice. His emperor eye somehow went on a strike, which made it impossible for him to predict the future while his mind was filled with guesses to think clearly. "Aida-san say something, please. " Akashi pleaded quietly.

She looked...fragile and confused, which made his heart tightened.

Riko finally looked up at him and asked a question that made his already-a-mess mind went 120% haywire. "Akashi-kun, do you...like me? As a ...lover?"

* * *

**Author's notes:**

**In case anyone feels that our Miyaji senpai is out of character...**

1\. Miyaji cares for his kouhais. It was already mentioned in the comics.

2\. Miyaji Teppei and his brother, the new captain of Shutoku get mad easily and both curses a lot. This is also mentioned in the comics.

**About the mocha chocolate...**

tastes really good and is sold in a lot of places in Kyoto, I fell in love with it when I visited there:)

And chocolates are also an symbol for love, so you get the idea.

* * *

Sorry for taking** so** long to update this.

And...Is anyone still reading this😂and seriously,** please review (author is dying for reviews)**

I have also posted this story on Wattpad and AO3, username is also kellyh000, you can also follow me there :)

Next chapter will be the final chapter.

I'm writing an one-shot, which is also the epilogue for this story, so follow me to get notifications!

Thanks for reading and see you soon!

* * *

**tbc. **


	6. Chapter 6

**chapter six**

Riko never ran from a fight. She always stayed and fought her own battles, because that's who she really was. A fighter who braced herself for whatever would happen.

"Akashi-kun, do you...like me? As a ...lover?"

_Does he really like me? Is he approaching me? Where does he see us in the future? How could he love me in the first place? What am I going to do? Do I want to be with him?_

Riko had been thinking these questions over and over, and she did want to know the answers more than anything to settle her mind down. _Better get it over with than keeping guessing._

She braced herself and looked at Akashi, and somewhere in the back of her mind, she remembered how Seirin was losing to Touo, and how she had been less stressed out and nervous at that time.

"Something tells me that you already know the answer," to her surprise, Akashi whispered lowly and slowly reached out to touch her hand, giving her time to flinch away, but she didn't. "but you are right, Aida-san. I was starting to think you'd never notice." he chided, playfully.

"My apologies;" Riko mutters, "this isn't my area of expertise, I'm afraid."

Akashi chuckled gently. "This is a new area for me too." his red eyes searched hers, and Riko could see her own reflection in his eyes clearly, "But I do think that the imperfection and faults that lie within us is what makes _relationships_ delicate and precious, which I am more than willing to try."

_That's a rather long and pretty way to say 'we can be bad at it together',_ she thought.

"I am not asking a formal answer from you, nor do we have to define our relationship, at least not right now. In your own time. Whatever you need." Akashi says, and she knew that he was giving her space and time, which she needed.

Her last romantic relationship with Teppei didn't end well. She was ok, but every now and then, the bittersweetness would overwhelm her and it stung.

Riko wasn't sure that she'd be willing to take a leap of faith so soon.

But Akashi had always treated her with respect and adoration. She found herself from being wary of him to civil to friendly to trusting. More importantly, she knew how keen Akashi was- he could see past people's flaws and good, to their nature and essence.

That meant Akashi really understood her who she really was. He had seen past her tough exterior, the faces she put on, understood all the decisions she made on basketball courts and in daily life.

_How lucky am I to have someone that embraces and loves me to the core?_

"Are you sure?" she says quietly.

Akashi held her gaze silently, and smiled. She found no trace of insincerity or annoyance, just infinite patience and obvious affection. Riko knew, then, she didn't need verbal confirmation, or anything else, to acknowledge the depth of Akashi's feelings towards her.

"You really are serious." Riko said quietly, sinking in the reality that Akashi have been pursuing her for all this time.

"Yes, I am very serious. " Akashi smiled wistfully. "I have been, from the beginning."

* * *

Many years later, on a cold winter morning, Riko woke to someone gently kissing her fingers.

She smiled before opening her eyes. "Good morning."

"Morning," her husband replied, and Riko felt his lips brush against the back of her hand as he spoke. He sat next to her, already dressed in a tailored suit and looked sharp and keen as a knife, but he cradled her hand in his with infinite care.

Akashi kept his hold onto her hand and leaned down to press a kiss to her cheek. "Happy anniversary."

"Happy anniversary." Riko used her other arm to hold Akashi there, and he did, letting his wife snake her arm around his neck. Her action only made him smile even more, and continued to kiss her along her jaw, and down to her neck.

Riko stirred a bit as she felt her husband's hot breath against her neck. "You keep doing that, and you're gonna be late for work." She warned, even though her hand around his neck was caging him close to her.

"Small price to pay," she heard her husband say in her ear as he discarded his suit jacket, and caught her lips with his.

* * *

**Author's notes:**

I'm sorry, this is a terrible ending, I know. But I will come back with better Akariko one-shots, I promise.

Thank you to everyone who stayed throughout the journey. Truly grateful.

kellyh000


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